Combine Factories
The Combine Factories,Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar also nicknamed "garage" or "industrial",WC mappack is a City 17 area cut early in the development of Half-Life 2.Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar It was to be seen during the very first chapter, between the City 17 Trainstation and its plaza.Half-Life 2: Raising the BarWC mappack It was to be accessed from the back of the trainstation, although Gordon was likely to first pass through the area while arriving to City 17 on its train.WC mappack Overview *A quite noisy and sinister area,WC mappackPlayable ''Half-Life 2'' Beta files it was to show the player human servitude under the Combine.Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar *Workers of these factories would have been consisted of both adult and child Citizens, as well as Stalkers and Vortigaunts. They were to be closely watched by Metrocops and Combots.WC mappack *The map "e3_ndustrial", cut from E3 2003, depicts most of the Combine Factories in an incomplete stage.WC mappack Other maps include maps starting with "d1_garage" (1 and 2) and "c17_01" (not to be confused with the E3 map e3_c17_01), coming in around 15 versions, some featuring the nearby trainstation.WC mappack Features The area was to contain several specific sections illustrated in Raising the Bar or found in the several different WC mappack maps, in which a specific journey was to be made by the player, before reaching the front of the City 17 Trainstation main facade through a tunnel closed in the most recent maps. The areas include: Railway and streets *An elevated railway for the (brush) Razor Train was to cross the area, transporting Citizens from the Wasteland or other locations to the nearby City 17 Trainstation. Big pipes, catwalks, electric cables, huge chimneys pouring smoke were to be seen everywhere.WC mappack *Door Towers were to be used by Metrocops to open Combine Barricades while APCs and School Buses were traveling around the area.WC mappack *In early maps flying APCs ("shuttles") are also seen circling the area.WC mappack *The Vorti-Cell was also to be introduced there.Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar *A Sensor Gate was also to be seen at the start of the journey.WC mappack Gallery File:D1 garage 010001.JPG|Gloomy street at the start of the map. The junk on the road is to be moved by the wind when approached. On the far left is located the Sensor Gate (here unseen). File:D1 garage 010002.JPG|First broad view of the area, introducing the chimneys, the electric cables and the elevated railway. File:Garage train.jpg|A Razor Train passing above the streets among the factories. File:D1 garage 010006.JPG|The same spot viewed from the other side. File:Combine door Citizen.jpg|Concept art for a Citizen walking towards a Combine Barricade in the area. File:D1 garage 010008.JPG|The back/side of the City 17 Trainstation seen from near the garage, with the Vortigaunt building on the left (with green light). File:D1 garage 010054.JPG|Buildings and pipes. File:D1 c17 01f 010001.jpg|Combine Door Tower in an early map. File:D1 garage 010048.JPG|View of the street from catwalks. File:D1 c17 01f 010000.jpg|Elevated railway and pipes in an early map. File:Vorti-Cell.jpg|Concept art for the Vorti-Cell. File:E3 terminal rebels.jpg|The area glimpsed from the Trainstation Plaza in the map "e3_terminal", on the right. File:Worker.jpg|"Worker", likely to be seen in the area (mostly the "''Borealis'' worker" model with another color), with what became the head for the Citizen Male 07, here more faithful to the original reference model. File:Worker back.jpg|Back, revealing the common Combine logo. Underground / sewers Sewers and underground rooms can be accessed through a large webbed trapdoor located on street level, then through a ladder that breaks before the player reaches the ground, forcing them to follow a specific path. After journeying through a small sewer where Xen Light Stalks and a scripted sequence involving Rebel Vortigaunts were to be seen, the player was to reach underground rooms having undergone a fire (they are also partially used in Vertigo). A small portion of the ceiling of one of the rooms was to have collapsed, allowing the rain to pour in. After several dimly lit corridors, the player was to reach the street again.WC mappack Gallery File:D1 garage 010010.JPG|The entrance to the sewers. The four red lights on each side are blinking. File:D1 garage 010021.JPG|Ladder in the sewers. File:D1 garage 010022.JPG|Above the ladder. File:D1 garage 010016.JPG|Xen Light Stalks in the sewers. File:D1 garage 010052.JPG|Ditto. File:D1 garage 010023.JPG|The burned/flooded room also present in Vertigo. File:D1 garage 010028.JPG|Right after the flooded room. File:D1 garage 010037.JPG|Damage corridor that follows. File:D1 garage 010039.JPG|The end of the corridors, showing elements also present in Vertigo. Opposite is the door leading back to street level. The Cremator Factory In this factory (also named "Children Factory"Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar), children were to build Cremators while being watched by a single Metrocop.WC mappack It was to seen from the street, then from above on a catwalk, but never directly accessed.WC mappack Gallery File:Children cremators.jpg|Concept art for the Cremator Factory. File:Factory children.jpg|Same spot in the map "e3_industrial.vmf". File:D1 garage 010060.JPG|The Cremator Factory in "d1_garage_01.vmf" (the children and the Metrocop are missing in that fix). File:D1 garage 010059.JPG|Ditto, detail of the machine. File:Child male model.jpg|Male child model, holding a Cremator head. File:Child female model.jpg|Ditto, female model. File:Child female working anim.jpg|Animation of the female child model transporting a Cremator head. The Stenographer's Chasm *This huge room with a glass roof and it walls covered with white tiles (like one of the early Citadels) and City 17 posters was an attempt to create a nightmarish environment, but it proved bereft of gameplay. The place was to be filled with Citizens wearing light blue outfits and typing on stenographs. *It was not to be directly accessed, and only glimpsed from the outside. Corridors run beside it, and one includes stairs with under it machinery that pierced the wall.WC mappack *In the playable Half-Life 2 Beta files, only the textures of the Stenographer's Chasm worker model can be found. Added to the light blue outfit, it was to have the head of the retail "male cheaple" Citizen model. A sheet of paper was also to be used, as well as a desk model, also missing.Playable ''Half-Life 2'' Beta files *More recent versions contain other types of machines mostly involving pistons, as well as working children and Metrocops.WC mappack *Early concept art images for the City 17 Trainstation seem to be based on variations of that area.WC mappack Gallery File:D1 garage 010044.JPG|Stairs right before the Stenographer's Chasm, with machinery going through the wall. File:Stenographer's Chasm.jpg|Concept art for the Stenographer's Chasm. File:Steno chasm.jpg|Fixed Stenographer's Chasm in the mod Half-Life 2 (GabeN). File:D1 garage 010055.JPG|The most recent Stenographer's Chasm, without stenographer (children should be present but are missing from the fix). File:D1 garage 010057.JPG|Ditto. File:D1 garage 010049.JPG|Ditto, drop-down view. File:Factory sitting back.png|Back texture file for the Stenographer's Chasm worker model. File:Factory sitting front.png|Front texture file for the Stenographer's Chasm worker model. File:Paper chasm.png|Texture for the sheet of paper used by each worker. The Stalker building Stalkers were to be seen "attacking" a container in a building located at the end of the small linear journey.WC mappack The Vortigaunt building A Vortigaunt was also to be seen working under a room filled with generator-like green devices near the Stalker building.WC mappack Gallery File:D1 garage 010051.JPG|The Vortigaunt on the ground floor. He is idle because of the missing scripted sequence in that fix. File:D1 garage 010050.JPG|View of the first floor. The garage A standard garage featuring an APC with its engine removed and a small operable crane were to be located opposite of the Vortigaunt building, near the back of the City 17 Trainstation. Odell's model was to be found there, used as a placeholder as it is often in the WC mappack. The building was also to include several props such as the early brush vending machine.WC mappack Gallery File:D1 garage 010009.JPG|APC in the garage. This fix replaces the old brush VAB APC by the early BRDM-2 model. Odell's model is also not included. Other factories Other unidentified factories were also to heavily rely on children. Gallery File:Factory kids.jpg|Concept art for children working on an unidentified machine. File:Kids working.jpg|Concept art for children working on machines similar to the ones seen in the latest versions of the Stenographer's Chasm. Fate *When the Cremator was cut and the team decided that human reproduction had been disabled by the Suppression Field, the presence of children as well as their factory were rendered irrelevant. The whole area then disappeared when the journey to Kleiner's Lab was heavily shortened and the general atmosphere of the game changed. *The slavery/factory themes were recycled in the Citadel chapters and the slavery work was kept for the Stalkers only. List of appearances *''Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar'' Notes and references See also *Half-Life 2 original storyline#Combine Factories Category:Half-Life 2 Beta Category:Combine locations Category:Cut Locations Category:City 17 locations Category:Locations Category:Viktor Antonov designs